TWENTY-five people were evacuated when a fire started by arsonists threatened to send the gable end of a three-storey empty building toppling onto surrounding homes.
Residents of 11 properties in Holyrood Court and Pattison Court, Middlesbrough, will not be allowed to return home until the tottering wall has been safely demolished later today.
Likewise, a section of Marton Road, one of the main approaches into the town will remain closed to traffic, with diversions in place, until demolition work has been carried out this afternoon.
About 30 fire fighters fought this morning's blaze, just weeks after arsonists last targeted the same building.
A handful of residents were evacuated on that occasion, to escape from the path of clouds of acrid, black smoke.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Fire Brigade said: "We suspect it to be deliberate. There have been a number of fires in that area. An investigation will not be carried out because the building will be a pile of bricks later today, after it has been demolished.''
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